Four miners suffocated when a
pocket of gas ignited in a panel, several hundred yards from the main shaft, on
November 9th, 1965.

The deceased were Frederick
Hunt, 50, of Thirroul, Henry Smith, 50, of Bulli, John Murray, 53, of Thirroul
and Robert Charles Stewart, 30, of Woonona. Their bodies were recovered at 6pm,
about nine hours after the blast. Ten mine rescue teams and the Southern Mines
Rescue Station worked through the night attempting to extinguish the fire.

Mr. Kent described how
a
wall of flame appeared
between him and safety...

Mr. Stewart's body was not
found until the next day, with his final words scrawled on a ventilation tube
"Tell wife kids I love them dearly. Can't last 10am. All can think of wife
kids. I'm getting weaker. Can't last.Hope can die like man. Can't I..

Three men survived - Barry
Kent, 30, of Thirroul, Charlie Stewart and Dale Jones, both of Woonona. Mr. Kent
described how a wall of flame appeared between him and safety and he
"gambled" on running through it. "I ran at and into the flame,
holding my breath and closing my eyes," he said. He suffered burns to his
face, scorched arms and singed hair - but he was one of the lucky ones.

A piece of timber was found
jammed between the brake disc and the drive shaft coupling of a shuttle car.
Evidence suggested that the timber had been raised to a temperature at which
incandescence developed and was logically assumed that ignition occurred from
that source (NSW Government, 1966)

The ventilation in the section
of working, and in particular in the vicinity of the shuttle car shunting
station was inadequate. It is quite clear that if adequate provisions had been
made to ventilate the shunting area, or if the shunting station had been sited
at a different location, the disaster would not have occurred.